Missing Ballot Munich Malt Ale
Equipment
- Visit a homebrew supplier for basic equipment
Ingredients
- 3 cups carapils malt grains
- 2 cups chocolate malt grains
- 9 Lb Munich Malt extract
- 2 oz Amarillo hops whole leaf
- 2 oz American Cascades hops pellets
- 2 ounce Hallertau Hops pellets
- 1 ounce Whitbred Golding Hop pellets
- 2 oz German Cascade hop pellets
- 1 Tbsp Irish moss or clarifying tablet optional
- 11.5 grams lalleland yeast or similar
- 3/4 cup priming (corn) sugar
- 1 cup water
Instructions
- Bring 2.5 gallons of water to a boil. Put grain malts into a cheesecloth bag. Put in the boiling water. Turn down the heat to a simmer. Allow to simmer for 40 minutes.
- Remove the bag of grains and whisk in the malt extract. Turn heat up to a boil. Whisk occasionally to keep from scorching.
- Add in the Amarillo hops. Continue boiling for 40 minutes.
- Add the American cascades and Hallertau. Boil for 10 minutes.
- Add the remaining hops and continue boiling for 10 minutes. You can also add in Irish moss or other fining ingredients at this point to help clarify the beer.
- Remove from heat and strain the liquid into a sanitized large tub/racking bucket.
- Transfer the strained liquid to a sanitized carboy. Then add cold water to fill to 5 gallons. Test the specific gravity, sugar and potential alcohol at this point.
- When the "wort" has cooled down to room temperature, Pitch the yeast. Then put a sanitized rubber cork with a blow off tube in the top of the bottle. Put the carboy in a dark room or closet where it won't be disturbed. Put a large container with a little water in the bottom next to the car boy. Put the end of the blow off tube in the container submerged in the water.
- During the primary fermentation, the first 3 days will be extremely active. Check the beer daily to make sure it isn't overflowing. Don't let the cork get dislodged.
- After 3 days the activity should be minimal. Switch the cork with blow off tube for a cork with an air lock with water in it. Make sure to sanitize this too. Allow to sit for another 11 days.
- After 2 weeks, it's time to bottle. Sanitize your equipment, bottles, and bottle caps.
- Boil priming sugar and water together. Allow to cool.
- Transfer beer from carboy to racking bucket. Strain if necessary. There will be a lot of sediment (about an inch) at the bottom of the carboy. Avoid as much of that as possible.
- Take measurements at this point.
- Whisk in the priming sugar. Then transfer the beer to sanitized bottles and cap with sanitized caps.
- Put the bottles in a dark room or closet where they won't be disturbed for 2 weeks.
- After 2 weeks in the bottle, they are ready to drink. Refrigerate and serve. Drink responsibly.
Notes
If this is your first time brewing, consult a professional brewer for a basic starter equipment set.
This recipe uses liquid malt extract. If you are a more advanced brewer, you may want to go "all grain." That requires more advanced equipment and temperature controls. This isn't a brew you would sell commercially. But, it goes down quite nicely at home.
Measure the viscosity of the beer to determine if it is done fermenting and what the final alcohol content will be. The hydrometer I use has measurements for specific gravity, sugar, and alcohol, so it was easier to read than ones that just have SG (which requires calculating the difference. In my case, the original ABV was 8, the final was 2. Take the difference. You get 6% ABV.